Model automobile assembly kit



Feb. 26, 1952 B. A. GRAY ETAL 2,587,142

MODEL AUTOMOBILE ASSEMBLY KIT Filed March 28, 1947 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 l4BENJAMIN A. GRAY Q g m 54, g f I8 INVENTOR.

W20 Josewu D. 5Aeo 4 T TORN'V Feb 1952 B. A. GRAY ETAL MODEL AUTOMQBILEASSEMBLY KIT 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 Filed March 28, 1947 INVENTORS BENJAMIN A.GRAY JOSEPH D. S 5

Patented Feb. 26, 1952 UN-IT E.D S TATE S PATENT O F F! CEMODELAU-TJOMOBILE ASSEMBLY 'KI'I.

-Benjamin A. Gray and Joseph'D."Sabo, Detroit, Mich., assignors to ToyFounders, 1110., Detroit, Mich-,1 incorporation of Michigan ApplicationMarch 28, 19457",v Serial No; 7 37,840

"5 Claims. 1 Therpresent invention relates to-a toy automobileassemblykit and has for its primary obj'ects:

(1')"T0 provide a toy'automobile" assembly kit having a variety of;interlocking parts which may 1 be selectively assembled. in. variouscombinations to provide toy automobiles of various modern'and attractivedesigns ;v

(2) To-"provide improved interlocking engagements forfdetachablysecuring the various parts "in the kit to each other with the minimum ofscrew threaded fastenings so as to facilitate the assembly and.rearrangement of the; parts, and to form various sturdy toy'automobiles" adapted to withstand the normallyexpected abuse receivedby'a childs toy; and

(3) To provide. a novel interlocking means 2. practiced or carried outin various ways. Also it is to be understood" that the phraseologyorterminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and notof limitation.

. A-particular toy automobile assembly kit embodying thepresentinvention is shown by Way of example in Fig. 1, wherein a basic chassis,indicated 'genera'llyby the numeral Ill, provides a frame uponwhich theother toyautomobile parts in the kit may be'selectively mounted in anumber of combinations to make various toy automobile models.v Thepartsin the kit may be suitably at their rearward portions by detachablerearj fenders, which in turn are held in place between lateral wings ofa detachable rear bumper; and

whereby the bumpers are held in positive alignment in the assembledposition with their adjacent fenders.

Other objects of this invention. will appear in the followingdescriptionandappended claims,

reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of thisspecification-wherein like reference characters designate. correspondingparts in the several views.

Fig. 1. is a view showing a layout of the various parts in perspectiveof a toy automobile. assembly from the parts of the assemblykit showninFig. 1.

Fig. 4 is essentially a perspective side view of a .a convertible coupemodeI that may be constructed from the parts of the assembly kit shown2' in Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 isv essentially a perspective sideview of a sedan model that maybe. constructed from the parts of the assembly kit shown in Fig. 1.

Before explaining the present-inventionin detail it is to benunderstoodthat. theinven'tion is .not limited in its applicationto thedetailsofconstruction and arrangement of parts illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, since the invention is. capablepf otherembodiments .andof being-.

formed from metal, plastic, hard rubber, or preferably a combination ofthesematerials.

The open frame structure of-the chassis Ill-has the central raisedportion the front axle support l2, and the; rear, axle journal supportsl3.

The front axle I4 pivots about the bolt l6 which extends through.thebolt holes I! and 8 in the front axle support |2and front axle M,respectively-,- and is held in place by'the nut I9. The

pair of lock washers 20 are preferably placed around .the bolt ||5 aboveand: below the front axle extremities of the threaded spindles 22.

m y' onytheir respective spindles 22, Sport roadster model that may beconstructed" support l2. to'prevent loosening of the nut I9 as "thefront axle |'4 pivots durin steering.

The-two .front'wheels 2| are journaled on the fthreadedspindles 22 atopposite ends of the front axle M adjacent the corresponding shoulders23 provided by the enlarged central. portion of the front axle M, andare held in place by'the threaded front hubcaps 24 which screw-on the Itis t be noted that the threaded portion. l5 of each front hubcap .24does not extend completely through the. hubcap. Thus the lateralexterior surface of each hubcap 24 is unbroken. Sufficient play-isprovided for the front. wheels 2| between .the corresponding shoulders23 and front hubcaps" Zita-permit the front wheels 2| to rotateThe-restriction. 25 is provided for the wheels 2| at the 7 forwardportion of the chassis I ll to permit limited "pivotal. steering"movements'of the frontv axle l4 about theb'olt It".

l shown. or. by. screwing into threaded the. bolt. holes .30. or 3] Therear axle 26 fitswithin the half cylindrical ing collars 28. Theplurality of bolts 29 pass throughjthe bolt-holes 30 of the. collars 2 8and lthe-boltholes 3,|'.of'the supports. 13. and hold the callers. 28,in place... either by means. ofnuts, not portions of Each of the tworear wheel. assemblies comprises tthe nut-32 wh-ich is screwed onthe.corresponding threaded end portion 33 of the rear axle 26, beingfollowed by a lock washer 34, a rear wheel 35, and rear hubcap 36 inthat order, the latter being similar to the front hubcaps 24 and beingtightly screwed on the threaded end 33 to cap the corresponding end ofthe rear axle 26. The nut 32 is then tightened against the lock Washer34 to clamp the wheel 35 against the hubcap 36. Thus clamped, the rearwheels 35 turn as a unit with the rear axle 26, which latter isjournaled in the bearings provided by the surfaces 21 and collars 28.

The basic body structure, indicated generally by the numeral 31, isadapted to be detachably mounted on the chassis l9 and is bolted theretoby bolts, not shown, which pass through the bolt holes 38 of the centralraised portion The body 31 is held in proper alignment on the chassis I9by the lower edges 39 of the body side structures which snugly overlapthe chassis side portions 49.

The body 31 and the accessory parts of the kit are designed to permitassembly of models symmetrically about their longitudinalvertical.median planes. Accordingly, where this description refers tofeatures of one side of the automobile models, the correspondingfeatures also exist on the other side. The body 31 is also essentially acomplete sport runabout body in itself with builtin front fenders 4| andrear fenders 42. Also provided by the body 31 are the dowel holes 43 and44 in each rear fender 42, the dowel hole 45 in the rear deck, the dowelholes 43 and 41 diagonally placed in each front fender. 4| inparallelism with the sloping lines thereof, and the two dowel slots 49in the lateral rear portions of the cowl.

The windshield 49 is preferably of transparent plastic material andprovides the two downward extending dowel pins 48A which fit into thedowel slots 48 and secure the windshield 49 in an upright position tothe body 31. The dowel holes 46 and 41 are adapted to receive the pins46A and 41A, respectively, of the pair of external exhaust manifolds 59,which latter are thus detachably mounted laterally to the body 31. It ispreferred that each pin 41A, for example, has a threaded end which willproject through the hole 41 and receive a nut to positively secure theexhaust manifold 50 to the body 31.

Upon assembling-the wheels to the chassis H! as previously described,the sport runabout or racing model shown in Fig. 2 may be completed bymounting the body 31 to the chassis l and by mounting the windshield 49and exhaust manifolds 59 to the body 31 as indicated above.

The sport roadster model of Fig. 3 may be assembled upon replacing eachexhaust manifold 50 by a front fender I, which latter provides the dowelpin 46B for insertion into the dowel hole 46. It is to be noted that thefront fenders 5| are sufficiently oversize to cover the fenders 4 I.Each fender 5| also provides a dowel hole 52 which is alignable with thecorresponding dowel hole 43, the rearward projection 53, and the forwardbumper retaining notch 54.

When the front fenders 5| are assembled to the body 31 with the dowelpins 463 in the dowel holes 46, the forward portion of each fender 5| isprevented from lateral displacement by the lateral wings 55 of the frontbumper 56 which jcur've around the fenders 5| as shown in Fig. 3.

; Ihe front bumper 55 is secured to the front of -the body 31 by thebolt 51 which extends through the 11; holes 58 and 59 of the mid-portionof the bumper 56 and forward central portion of the body 31,respectively. A projection 69, located on' retaining notch 64.

the inside of the bumper 56 adjacent each wing 55, interlocks with thecorresponding bumper retaining notch 54 and rigidly holds the bumper 56in its proper position.

The front fenders 5| extend essentially the length of the body 31 towardthe rear fenders 6|. Each rear fender 6| provides a cutaway portion 62which receives the rearward projection 53 of the corresponding frontfender 5|, the threaded dowel 43A which extends through the hole 43 toreceive a nut on the inside of the body 31 and to hold the fender 6|positively in place, the dowel 44A which fits into the hole 44, and thebumper Upon assembling the rear fenders 61 in place with the dowels 43Aand 44A within the respective dowel holes 43 and 44, the

. rear projection 53 of each front fender 5| is held against lateraldisplacement between the body 31 and the sides of the rear fender 6| bythe threaded dowel 43A which also passes through the dowel hole .52 ofthe front fender 5|. The rear bumper 65 also provides lateral wings 66which curve around the rear fenders 6|, the projections 61 whichinterlock with the bumper retaining notches 64 and securely hold thebumper 65 in position, and the centrally located bolt hole 68 for thebolt 69,, which latter extends through the hole 68 anda bolt hole, notshown, in the rear central portion of the body 31 and is secured as,-forexample, bya nut to hold the bumper 65 to the body 31. Thenotches 1|]and 1|, at the front and rear, respectively, of the chassis II) ,areprovided for the inward projections of the 48, and a dowel p-in, notshown, for the dowel hole 45.. Thecoupe of Fig. 4 may be readilyconverted into the sedan model of Fig. 5 by replac ing the top 12 by thesedan top 13, which is similarly provided with depending dowel pins 43Cfor the dowel slots 48, and a dowel pin, not shown, for the dowel hole45.

Variation in the color between the tops 12 and 13 and body 31 isprovided where desirable. -Both tops 12 and 13 are preferably formedfrom transparent plastic. The opaque portions of the tops 12 and 13 arepainted the color desired, leaving the windshield and window portionstransparent,

An important feature of the present invention lies in the facility withwhich the various toy automobile parts may be assembled or detached fromeach other by virtue of the various dowel pins provided by certain partsof the kit for mating with corresponding dowel holes of other parts ofthe kit. By the interlocking of selected parts as described, the entireassembly holds itself to- .gether as a sturdy unit with the minimum ofThe design and arscrew-threaded fastenings. rangement of the parts shownpermit several modern and attractive toy automobiles to be readily andeasily constructed even by small chil- 5|, give the appearance ofluxuriance, provide a sporting low center of gravity, and also extendthe front fenders 5| rearwardly to a position where they are heldagainst displacement by the dowels 43A of the rear fenders 6|. Thebumpers 56 and 65 not only contribute to the attractive modern design ofthe assembled models, but also provide important structural features,particularly the projections 60 and 61 which interlock with thecorresponding notches 54 and 64 to hold both the bumper and fenders intheir proper relative positions.

We claim:

1. A toy automobile assembly kit having a variety of parts selectivelycombinable to provide toy automobiles of various models and including achassis with detachably mounted wheels, a basic body structuredetachably mounted on said chassis, rearfenders detachably mounted tosaid body structure, forward cutaway portions of said rear fenders, arear bumper detachably mounted to said basicbody structure, frontfenders detachably mounted to said body structure, the rearwardlyextending portions of said front fenders being projected into the saidforward cutaway portions of said rear fenders and being held againstlateral displacement between said rear fenders and said body structure,a front bumper detachably mounted to said basic body structure, means toprevent lateral displacement of said rear fenders and the front portionsof said front fenders and including lateral wings provided by said rearand front bumpers, respectively, and curved around portions of said andfront fenders, respectively.

2. A toy automobile assembly kit as claimed in claim 1 and being furthercharacterized in that means are provided to hold said bumpers andfenders in positive alignment with each other in their assembledpositions, said means including bumper supporting notches provided bysaid fenders and projections provided by said bumpers to interlock withsaid bumper supporting notches.

3. A toy automobile assembly kit including a chassis, a basic bodystructure mounted on said chassis, rear fenders detachably mounted onsaid body structure and having forward cutaway portions, front fendersdetachably mounted on said body structure, the rearwardly extendingportions of said front fenders being projected into the said forwardcutaway portions of said rear fenders and being held against lateraldisplacement between said rear fenders and said body structure, andmeans to prevent lateral displacement of said rear fenders and the frontportions of said front fenders.

4. A toy automobile assembly kit including a chassis, a basic bodystructure mounted on said chassis, rear and front fenders detachablymounted on said body structure, rear and front bumpers detachablymounted on said basic body structure, and means to prevent lateraldisplacement of said rear fenders and said front fenders and includinglateral wings provided by said rear and front bumpers, respectively, andcurved around portions of said rear and front fenders, respectively.

5. A toy automobile assembly kit according to claim 4 and furthercharacterized in that bumper supporting notches are provided by saidfenders and projections are provided by said bumpers to interlock withsaid bumper supporting notches to hold said bumpers and fenders inpositive alignment with each other in the assembled position.

BENJAMIN A. GRAY. JOSEPH D. SABO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,653,291 Katow Dec. 20, 19271,728,725 Dowst Sept. 17, 1929 1,877,661 Heisler Sept. 13, 19321,973,220 Mohr Sept. 11, 1934 2,024,590 Lindstrom Dec. 17, 19352,354,392 McCoy July 25, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date789,257 France Oct. 25. 1935

